Ember Months: FRSC Introduces Help Areas

Commuters and drivers who are stranded along major roads may heave a sigh of relief with the introduction of help areas by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC).
This forms part of this year’s Ember month safety campaign, according to Zonal Commanding Officer (Zone 6) of the commission in charge of Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross River and Akwa Ibom States, Jonathan Owoade.
Across the nation, there are 22 help Areas which he said will help in rescue services, removal of obstructions so as to reduce carnage during the ember months period.
From now to the September to the end of January next year, motorists and drivers will be intensely monitored by officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) as part of the exercise.
This follows the flag-off of the ember months safety campaign last week in Port Harcourt.
Owoade said 499 officers have been deployed with 1,050 Marshals across the zone.
To further give strength to the campaign, 45 patrol vehicles, five ambulances and two trucks have been deployed across roads in the zone that cover Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River and Bayelsa States.
The zonal commanding officer assured that there will be strict enforcement of critical offences such as overloading, speeding, use of worn out or expired tyres, use of phones as well as driving against traffic.
He submitted that,” ember months are periods where a series of programmes and celebrations result in several activities, thereby giving rise to high volume of traffic on roads which if not properly checked, could lead to avoidable crashes that may lead to loss of lives and property.”
The theme of this year’s exercise is,”Avoid Speeding, Overloading and Unsafe Tyres to Arrive Alive.”
He pointed out that,” speeding leads to an increase in the degree of crash severity, possibly resulting in more fatalities and/or injuries.”
Another area of focus is overloading, Owoade said and warned that overloaded vehicles can cause tyres to overheat and wear rapidly, which increases the chance of premature, dangerous and expensive failure or blow out. The driver’s control and operating space in the overloaded vehicle is diminished, escalating the chances of crash.
Studies have shown that tyres among all motor parts have short lifespan as second hand tyres or substandard ones flood the market, hence, every four to six months, drivers are expected to check or change them.
In this light, the agency said it will beam its searchlight in motor parks and synergise with unions to achieve less accidents this season.
In Rivers State, Corp Commander Salish Galadunci said it has reduced road accidents since he assumed office.
Galadunci said the commission has adopted the use of technology for improved service by introducing a toll free line for drivers to call for emergencies.
The Rivers State command has equally introduced a National Traffic Radio, as the station can be reached using the internet for its operations.
He praised the state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike for the urban renewal programme that has improved road network particularly in Port Harcourt..
The new road network, he maintained has improved time of doing business, as it opens up the business environment and improve the economy.
Galadunci warned drivers against overloading as it poses danger and reduces the lifespan of vehicles and causes much stress on the roads and wearing out the durability of the road as well.

By: Kevin Nengia & Nita Eseoghene